Engine auxiliary equipment handling jack assembly



w. H. WARNER Aug. 26, 1958 ENGINE AUXILIARY'EQUIPMENT HANDLING JACKASSEMBLY Filed May 7. 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. W/LUHM H. w 8M9?Aug. 26, 1958 w. H. WARNER ENGINE AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT HANDLING JACKASSEMBLY Filed May 7, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 26, 1958 w. H. WARNER2,849,124

ENGINE AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT HANDLING JACK ASSEMBLY Filed May 7. 1956 sSheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent Ofifice Patented Aug. 26, 1958ENGINE AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT HANDLING JACK ASSEMBLY William H. Warner,Riverside, Califi, assignor to the United States of America asrepresented by the Secretary of the Air Force Application May 7, 1956,Serial No. 583,344

3 Claims. (Cl. 2141) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec.266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by orfor the United States Government for governmental purposes withoutpayment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to apparatus for use in handling aircraft engineauxiliary equipment, and more particularly, to a jack apparatus of thetype employed for handling such equipment during installation ormounting thereof on engine nacelles.

At present, heavy engine auxiliary equipment, such as turbosuperchargersfrequently weighing several hundred pounds, require manhandling with theassistance of chain hoists and crew chief stands or hydraulic jacksduring installation or mounting on engine nacelles of modern largeaircraft. Such operation is usually time consuming, fatiguing, requiringthe participation of several men, and considerably delaying maintenanceor servicing of aircraft, an operation of extreme importance,especially, in military airbases.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel jackassembly for handling engine component parts or accessories, such as aturbosupercharger, so as to enable one man to handle and install aturbosupercharger in an engine nacelle in a relatively short time.

It is further the purpose of the present invention to provide a jackapparatus in the form of a workstand arranged to support, raise orlower, turn from a vertical to a hroizontal position, and move fore andaft an engine component part, such as a turbosupercharger, duringinstallations thereof in an engine nacelle.

The jack apparatus constructed in accordance with the present inventionis also characterized by its simple construction of material readily.available, by being very easy to operate, and by easily beingdismantled for purposes of shipping.

The jack apparatus of the present invention is, further, particularlyuseful for installing turbosuperchargers in engine nacelles of the typerequiring a vertical installation characteristic of certain militaryaircraft.

According to the present invention the jack apparatus for handlingengine auxiliary equipment during installation thereof consists of amobile base frame provided with tilting means for raising one endthereof, and upon which frame, a work supporting extensible strut isadjustably mounted for raising or lowering and for holding the work invarious level positions, Also, the extensible strut is provided withmeans for longitudinal adjustment thereof and with means for turning thework from a vertical to a horizontal position.

These and other features of the present invention are described indetail below in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein likenumerals designate like parts throughout the several views, and inwhich,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the engine auxiliary equipmenthandling jack apparatus embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the 2 jack apparatusof Figure 1 but with the work adapter positioned in a vertical position;and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail in section of the extensible strut ofthe device of Figure 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the embodiment of the jackassembly of the present invention arranged for handlingturbosuperchargers or other such engine equipment during installationthereof in engine nacelles illustrated in the drawings comprises a baseframe 10 formed of lengths of tubing 12 and 14 arranged in ahorizontally extending triangular or V-shape, and of a cross bracing 16welded thereto. The base frame 10 may be movably supported on a pair offront caster wheels 18 and a rear caster wheel 20, which are attached ina suitable manner at the ends of the tubing sections 12 and 14 so thatthe jack assembly may be shifted bodily in any direction over the flooror any other supporting surface. The frame 10 may also be provided withthe usual floor engaging shoe 22, which may be raised or lowered toengage the floor by a foot operated pedal 24 as shown in Figure 1.

Attached to the closely located ends of the tubing sections 12 and 14 atthe rear end of the frame 10, as by welding, is a pedestal jack 26formed of an inner cylindrical part 28 slidably inserted in an outertubular part 30, which outer tubular part 30 is welded to the tubingsections 12 and 14. The inner cylindrical part 28 is supported on therear caster wheel 20 suitably connected thereto, and is provided, at itsupper end, with a ball bearing 32 press fitted therein. jack screw 34provided with a handle 36 and threadedly engaging the outer tubular part30 as at 38 is fitted at its lower end into the bearing 32, wherebyrotation of the jack screw 34 by the handle 36 raises and lowers theouter tubular part 30 and therefore the rear end of the frame 10,thereby tilting the base frame 10 for a purpose as hereinafterdescribed.

A horizontally extending plate 40 welded to the frame tubing sections 12and 14 fixedly supports an upstanding strut 42 provided with ears 44 atits upper end. The upstanding strut 42 in turn pivotally supports atubular casing 46 of a linear adjustment extensible strut 48 extendingsubstantially longitudinally of the frame 10. The casing 46 is pivotallysupported on the upstanding strut 42 by an ear 50 extending between theears 44 of the upstanding strut 42, and which ear 50 is pivotallyconnected to the ears 44 by a pivot pin 52, whereby the extensible strut48 may be raised or lowered in a vertical plane.

Extremely limited pivotal movement of the extensible strut 48 about thepivot pin 52 in the vertical plane may be obtained by an upstandinghydraulic jack 54 fixedly supported on a platform 56 welded to a plate58 extending transversely of the frame 10, and which plate 58 is weldedto the frame tubing sections 12 and 14. The hydraulic jack 54 isconnected to the tubular casing 46 by a universal joint 60 as shown inFigures l3.

Supported for reciprocable and rotary movements in the tubular casing 46of the extensible strut 48, an inner cylindrical member 62 is providedwith bushings 64 on the outer surface thereof and with an car 66 at itsfront end. Longitudinal or linear adjustment of the inner strut member62 may be obtained by an externally threaded jack screw 68 extendingthrough the tubular casing 46 and threadedly engaging the inner strutmember 62 as at 70. The jack screw 68 is rotatably supported in thetubular casing 46 by an inner bushing 72 attached to the casing 46 atthe end side thereof and by an outer bushing 74 attached to the jackscrew 68. Rotation of the jack screw 68 by a handle 76 will causelongitudinal movement of the inner strut member 62 so as to extend orretract in the tubular casingv 46 as the case may be.

An externally threaded The inner strut member 62 of the extensible strut48 is further arranged to pivotally support at its front end a worksupporting adapter 78 having a pair of ears 80 between which extends theear 66 at the front end of the inner strut member 62. A pivot pin 82extending through the ears 66 and 80 provides pivotal movement of thework supporting adapter 78 in a horizontal plane. The adapter 78 is alsoprovided with a curved plate 84 attached, as by welding, to a flat plate85 extending substantially at right angles to the cars 80. The curvedplate 84 may be formed with apertures 86 through which extend bolts 88for attaching thereto a turbosupercharger, as shown at 89, or any otherobject arranged to be handled by the jack apparatus.

The work supporting adapter '78 is further provided with a torque arm 90welded thereto as at $2, and which torque lever 90 extending at an angletherefrom is pivotally connected to a torque lever 94 by a pivot pin 96.The torque lever 94 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 98through which extends a pin 100 having an upper threaded portion, whichpin 100 is threadedly connected to the inner strut cylindrical member62. A spacer 102 and a nut 104 retain the pin 100 in the slot 98 of thetorque lever 94.

In order for the pin 100 to extend above the tubular casing 46 so as toengage the slot 98 of the torque lever 94, the casing 46 is formed witha cutaway portion 106 as best shown in Figure 2. The cutaway portion 106extending for about 172 on the circumference of the tubular casing 46,as shown in Figure 2, permits rotation of the inner tubular member 62between the limits defined by the size of the cutaway portion 106, sothat the work supporting adapter 78 may be rotated from a horizontalposition as shown in Figure 1 to a vertical position as shown in Figure2. This function of the jack apparatus permits turning of the work piecesupported thereon, especially, necessary for a vertical installation ofthe turbosuperchargers. By this arrangement, the torque means 90, 94 notonly takes up the ,torque force during rotation of the inner tubularmember 62 and, therefore, of the work supporting adapter 78 but, also,controls the pivoting of the work supporting adapter 78 on the pin 82 atthe front end of the inner tubular member 62.

Rotary adjustment of the inner strut member 62 may be obtained by aninner tubular part 108 provided with a pair of bushings 110 on the outersurface thereof, which bushings 110 rotatably support the inner tubularstrut part 108 in the casing 46 at the rear end thereof and adjacent asecond cutaway portion 112 on the casing 46 as best shown in Figure 2.The inner strut part 108 is further provided with an inner bushing 114press fitted therein and with a female spline fitting 116 engaged by atubular male spline fitting 118 rigidly connected to and extendingrearwardly of the inner cylindrical short member 62. The jack screw 68is arranged to extend through the inner tubular part 108 and the malespline fitting 118, to engage the inner strut member 62, previouslydescribed above, as shown in Figure 3.

The inner tubular strut part 108 is rotatably operated by a handle rod120 attached thereto and extending through an opening 122 in asemitubular casing sleeve 124 slidably mounted on the tubular casing 46.The sleeve 124 is further formed with a pair of slots 126 through whichextend a pair of bolts 128 screwed on the casing 46, as shown in Figure2, which bolts 128 are arranged to retain the sleeve 124 for slidablemovement on the casing 46.

As shown in Figure 2, the second cutaway portion 112 extending for about162 on the circumference of the tubular casing 46 and on the oppositeside of that of the first cutaway portion 106 permits the handle rod 120to travel from a horizontal position, as shown in Figure 1, to avertical position, as shown in Figure 2, thereby rotating the innertubular strut part 108 that causes rotation of the inner strut member 62and, therefore, rotary adjustment of the work supporting adapter 78 forma horizontal position to a vertical position and vice versa as desired.

As it can be seen from the above description of the apparatus of thepresent invention, the work supporting adapter 78 may be rotated in ahorizontal plane about the pivot 82 by the arm 90, or from a horizontalposition to a vertical position by handle 120, or may be extended orretracted by the jack screw 68 operated by the handle 76, and may alsobe raised or lowered by the hydraulic jack 54. In addition, the adapter78 may be adjusted so as to carry a work piece in a level plane and atany elevated position in the vertical plane by adjustment of thehydraulic jack 54 and the pedestal jack 26. For example, if the workadapter 78 is raised from the position shown in Figure 1 by operation ofthe hydraulic jack 54, then by raising the base frame 10 at the rear endthereof through the pedestal jack 26, the adapter 78 may be adjusted tocarry the work piece in a level plane at that elevated position. Alsothe adapter 78 may be raised or lowered by operation of the pedestaljack 26 only or with the hydraulic jack 54 as it may be desired.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes ofillustration only and is not intended to be limited by this descriptionor otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A jack stand for installing engine accessories in engine nacellescomprising a mobile base frame, a pedestal jack adjustably supportingsaid frame at an end thereof, an upstanding stationary strut on saidframe, a tubular casing pivotally mounted at an end thereof on saidupstanding strut, an upstanding jack on said frame pivotally connectedto said tubular casing for adjustable supporting the same, areciprocable member in said casing, a work supporter pivotally connectedto said reciprocable member at a front end thereof, torque leversadjustably connecting said reciprocable member to said work supporter, alinear adjustment screw for said reciprocable member, a rotaryadjustment member in said casing, said rotary adjustment memberconnected to said reciprocable member for transmitting rotary motionthereto, and handle means for manually operating said rotary adjustmentmember.

2. An installation jack assembly comprising a mobile base frame, jackmeans adjustably supporting said frame at an end thereof, uprightstationary strut means on said frame pivotally supporting a casingextending longitudinally of said frame, jack means on said framepivotally supporting said casing for vertical adjustment thereof todifferent levels, a reciprocable member in said casing for linearmovement therein, linear adjustment means for said reciprocable member,work supporting means pivotally connected to said reciprocable member,torque means adjustably connecting said work supporting means to saidreciprocable member for supporting said Work supporting means in variouslevel positions when said casing is raised or lowered by said jackmeans, rotary adjustment means in said casing operatively connected tosaid reciprocable member for rotary movement thereof, and actuatingmeans for operating said rotary adjustment means, whereby said worksupporting means may be raised, lowered to different level positions bysaid jack means, rotatably adjusted by said actuating means, and movedfore and aft by said linear adjustment means.

3. An installation jack assembly comprising a mobile base frame oftriangular form, a pedestal jack connected to and adjustably supportingsaid frame at the rear end thereof, a caster wheel at each end of saidframe, an upstanding stationary strut on said frame pivotally supportinga tubular casing extending longitudinally of said base frame, anupstanding jack on said base frame pivotally connected to said tubularcasing for adjustment of wwwvmv M said adjustable member fortransmitting rotary motion thereto, and manual means for operating saidrotary tubular member.

UNITED STATES PATENTS References Cited in the file of this patent1,106,988 Swindell Aug. 11, 1914 2,395,411 Kittel Feb. 26, 19462,571,572 Harmon Oct. 16, 1951 2,643,779 Hamlin June 30, 1953

